Methods of Resolving Disputes Arising from Smart Contracts

Abstract

With the rapid development of new technologies taking place during the 4th Industrial Revolution, new types of disputes of significant specificity have gradually begun to emerge. Among such cases a special category of cases has been formed by disputes arising from smart contracts based on block chain technology. There are two possible ways to resolve such disputes. Under the first approach, they are subject to consideration by traditional arbitration institutions, guided by the usual rules and guidelines (blockchain arbitration). The second approach involves the need to create innovative applications based on blockchain technology and designed to resolve disputes arising in a digital decentralized environment ( blockchain arbitration). Such applications, in turn, are divided into two groups. The first group consists of projects involving the creation of a special arbitration combining the advantages of international commercial arbitration and blockchain technology; the second group includes projects involving the establishment of a decentralized quasi-judicial system for dispute resolution. The paper attempts to analyze the most interesting projects related to each of the listed groups and assess the prospects of their development. Based on the results of the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that the implementation of such projects will lead to the emergence of many issues (among which the problem of choice of applicable law, determination of place of arbitration, arbitrability, as well as the possibility of recognition and enforcement of awards made by such arbitral tribunal). Under the influence of new technologies, international commercial arbitration is gaining a new direction of its development. In the future, the development of new technologies will require not only rationalization of existing dispute resolution mechanisms, but also a fundamental rethinking.